


Comm Failure

by Icechild



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Under the Red Hood, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily, Blood, Communication Failure, DaddyBats, Dick needs a hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Family Bonding, Gore, Injured Dick, Jason is a good brother, Team as Family, Worried Bruce, brother bonding, hurt dick, prank, prank gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-07 20:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19092277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icechild/pseuds/Icechild
Summary: When the Batfamily comes back from a mission to pick up the Blue Bird who had stayed behind they learn of a prank from the Young Justice team that could cost the first Robin his life.





	1. Chapter 1

The batfamily made it back from their week long mission to find that mount justice was empty of the one family member they had left behind. Dick had opted out of the mission as he wanted to try to train the team a little more and was busy handling Blockbuster in Bludhaven. Red Hood, Robin, and Batman all stepped through the Zeta Beams and were greeted by the team minus the one they were looking for. Dick said he would meet them at the Batcave, so when he didn’t show they thought he may have been caught up with training the team. 

“Where is Nightwing?” Batman gave his standard growl that the surrounding team members looked at each other and then M’gann facepalmed herself and spoke.

“Hello Megan! That’s what we were forgetting!”

“What?” Tim took a step forward and looked at the rest of the team that was now all gathered around the Batclan, shooting wary glances at Red Hood. 

“We were playing a prank on him and almost forgot to end it!” She was still excited enough that she didn’t notice the way each of the bats tensed up.

“What kind of prank?” Jason took a half step closer wanting to see if Dick would step out from the hallway with pink hair or something.

“Oh! We cut off his communicator! He’s probably angry with us for letting it run this long. We-”

“You did  _ what _ ?” Batman’s growl cut off all the joy that the team was feeling before hand.

“W-we uhm...cut off his communicator links.”

“To where?” Tim was on edge he had a bad feeling about this. 

“U-uhm everywhere...is there a problem?”

Red Hood went over to the main computer system and started typing with a fury and then swore under his breath.

“B. His comm isn’t coming back online.” 

The team was rapidly sidelined as Tim and Bruce moved over to look where Jason was typing. Bruce gently nudged him out of the way in order to take over and open another file. 

“He made three attempts to contact last night.” To any outsider Batman’s voice was the same as always, to his two sons, they could hear the underlying tones of fear there. “Robin locate his tracker.” 

Three keystrokes later, “He’s in an alley in downtown Bludhaven, he hasn’t moved all day…”

Worst case scenarios were playing in all of their heads as they ran towards the hanger before loading into the bioship. M’gann was worried. They had planned the prank and because of them, Nightwing could be-. She would never forgive herself if he was. 

In the ship Batman played the first of the messages Nightwing had left the previous night. They would get to him. And when they did they would have the information they needed. 

 

_ The Night Before _

 

Nightwing had just gotten wind of a huge deal going on downtown in Bludhaven. He was excited, tomorrow his family would come home and he and his brothers would patrol Gotham together and the whole family would have a movie and bonding day at the manor. He had been stopping a small robbery and ended up hearing the thugs talk about some huge deal going on downtown in about an hour. He knew it was Blockbuster but the name of the other person was one that the thugs didn’t know. Therefore, he didn’t know. 

He made his way downtown to the abandoned theater that the deal was meant to being going on in. He looked in through the windows and saw Blockbuster there, in all his muscle glory, and he knew immediately that whoever this deal was with, it was someone dangerous. He didn’t know what exactly he was getting into with this but he didn’t really have a choice. He needed solid evidence on Blockbuster, and if he could take him out then that would be much preferable to letting him continue out on the streets. He climbed his way up onto the roof of the theater and lifted a hand to the comm link in his ear. 

“Nightwing to Mount Justice, I’m in Bludhaven. There’s a big deal going on at the abandoned theater downtown. Blockbuster is here and he’s threatened, I don’t know who he’s dealing with but it has to be someone dangerous or he wouldn’t be acting this way. I might need some backup. Nightwing Out.”

With that he tucked himself into the air vents and onto the rafters to watch the deal, collect the evidence, and wait for the team to get back to him.

 

_ Present _

 

There was silence on the ship as Nightwing’s voice faded out of the transmission. The fact that his comm wasn’t going back online, and that he hadn’t moved at all from the alley that they could tell was just behind the theater he had mentioned. Well, it didn’t paint the best of pictures for the team and the Bats. 

Jason was the one who took a deep breath and braved speaking up.

“Let’s hope to god that he didn’t need it….”

They all knew he didn’t believe himself.

 

_ Nightwing _

 

He watched down as he heard the door open but realized his position didn’t allow him to see the newcomer until they stepped into the light. He briefly wondered why the team hadn’t contacted him yet. They didn’t have a mission tonight, maybe there was an emergency at the cave? No, someone would have alerted him if there was any danger. He didn’t have more time to dwell on that however, as he saw the other person step into the light. Deathstroke, Slade Wilson, the man who destroyed his life. He reached up to his comm again and whispered quickly.

“Nightwing to team, please respond. I need to take you up on that backup. Blockbuster is meeting Deathstroke, I have eyes on them now. I- Shit. I’m spotted. Team I need that backup. Now!”

That’s when the guns went off. 

 

_ Present _

 

The ending of Nightwing’s transmission was punctuated with gunfire and all of them had to swallow hard. There was still one more transmission from him but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. It could have simply been one of the bad guys who were trying to flaunt that they had killed the first son of the Bat. The team was scared. They had done this. If they hadn’t thought up their little prank then Nightwing would have had his backup. They were all yanked from their musings when Robin spoke up.

“He’s moving.”

All of their heads jerked to him at that moment, Tim had had Dick’s tracker up on his hologlove the entire time the team had been listening to the transmission. 

“What do you mean?” Jason was worried, someone very easily could have found him and decided they would take the corpse of Nightwing as bragging rights, or worse. Bludhaven was a hell hole like that. 

“He’s moving in the alley, it looks like he’s fighting. There’s no cameras around for me to actually know though.”

“That means he’s okay right?” Beast Boy was scared. Nightwing was a huge role model to him and he would take any scrap of hope he was alright.

“No.” Batman’s harsh voice pulled the team away from their joy. “He would have gone home and his comm would have come online. He’s not.”

The ship fell into silence before Jason spoke. 

“B, play the last one.”

Batman moved to select Nightwing’s most recent contact and the team saw his tracker light go still again in the alley. 

 

_ Nightwing _

 

The fighting had been going on for the last twenty six minutes and he was getting tired.  _ Where the hell is the team?  _ He dodged again and punched out the guy who was trying to sneak up behind him. His uniform was nearly shredded from the armor piercing bullets and the slices from Slade’s sword that he had just barely managed to dodge. Blockbuster came up behind him and he wasn’t able to dodge the huge fist as it slammed into his midsection and sent him flying through the air into the wall across the theater. He fell out of the crater and down onto the floor as he started to cough and gasp for air. Slade kicked him in the side of the head and he knew he wasn’t going to last long. He was bleeding, exhausted, hurt. He needed that backup. It was stupid, in hindsight, Bruce had always warned him against relying on others. He always said that they would let him down, but they never had, not until now. He tried to get up and attack but Blockbuster hit him once again in the chest. He could feel his ribs shatter as he was once more flung through the air and into the side of the screen, his head making very painful contact with the wall. He fell to the ground and struggled to his feet. He tried to fight but Blockbuster grabbed him and held him hostage. Slade came up to him laughing and pulled off his mask, in turn doing it himself. Slade then slowly pulled his sword to drag across his cheek and leave another bloody mark on him. 

“Well, Nightwing, looks like you weren’t fit to be mine anyways. You should have known no one would come to help you.”

Without another word he plunged his sword down into Dick’s side. He felt like he was on fire. Everything was blurring and spinning, he felt like he was going to throw up. But he needed to get out of this place. Focusing on a new surge of adrenaline he kicked backwards and hit Blockbuster straight in the groin, making him loosen his grip just enough for Dick to twist out and kick Slade away. He threw down three smoke bombs and grappled his way up the venting and to the roof again. He was stumbling and shakily reached for his com. 

“N-Nightwing t-to team….N-Nightwing...to anyone!....I-I need help…..I-I’m hurt….d-downtown Blud….n-need immediate...e-evac...h-h-help….A-anyone?!.....This is Nightwing I need-”

He screamed as Slade kicked him right above the stab wound. It sent him straight off the edge of the building and down into the alleyway below. He bounced off of the dumpster and rolled onto the ground. The sky above rumbling with thunder as rain began to come down and Slade looked down to his unmoving form. 

“Goodbye, Nightwing.”

The world tunneling around him, he couldn’t stop the shock from kicking in. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering to his family. They’d come home to find him dead. Did anyone even know he was in trouble? He felt his comm crackle in his ear and knew contacting again was useless. He couldn’t help but feel guilty as the world turned black. He felt his body go limp and the rain wash over him. He felt the blood pulse out of his body and only one thought through his head stayed until it was silenced. 

“I’m sorry.”

 

_ Present _

 

All of them felt their hearts stop when they heard him scream. Nightwing never screamed. Not unless he was in immense pain. They knew his injuries had to be extensive. They heard him crash and they could hear wheezing breaths before the comm shorted out and ended. No one knew what to say, what to do, they were frozen. 

“Robin, pull up his suit’s biometrics.” Batman was working hard, Dick had been moving but that didn’t mean anything. He was wounded and had been left there for six hours. It could be too late. 

Tim didn’t waste a second, wondering why they hadn’t done this to begin with. He pulled them up on his holocomputer and nearly sobbed in relief as he saw a heartbeat fill the screen. 

“He’s alive. His vitals are weak but he’s alive.”

“Good. I’m the only dead Robin in this family and I intend to keep it that way.” Jason was angry, the stupid team had nearly killed his brother. “How far away are we?”

“Approaching the theater now.” 

“Good.”

The bioship was put into camouflage mode and everyone dove out and headed towards the alley until the Bats all stopped them.

“You go inside and check out the area. Make sure this perimeter is secure. We will handle Nightwing.”

“But Batman-”

“Do not question me. Go.”

They each nodded and the team took off to follow their orders. His son was in danger because of them. Their friend was hurt because of them. Their leader, it was the least they could do to follow orders now and not cause more issues. 

After making sure the team had all left to follow through on their orders the Bats all turned and ran down the alley. What they found wasn’t what they had expected. There was Nightwing leaned heavily against the corner of the dumpster standing near a large pool of blood. His mask was gone but the way that the blood had poured on his face disguised his identity well enough. They could tell he wasn’t seeing them by the glazed look in his eyes. They didn’t know what to do. He was so covered in blood that he shouldn’t be alive but then, Dick swayed heavily and slid off the corner and down to the ground. That was all they needed, every bat ran forward and Bruce barely caught Dick before he could crash into the ground again. He carefully turned him in his arms and cupped a hand under his head to steady him as he guided his first born towards the ground. Dick coughed and blood dribbled out from between his lips.

“Sorry…...Bruce….”

“Stay awake. You have nothing to apologize for, this isn’t your fault.”

Jason knelt down and started to assess the stab wound in Dick’s side. 

“Dickie, c’mon, you gotta stay with us man.”

“M-messed...u-up…”

“No.” Tim was trying to stem the bleeding from everywhere he could. There was too much. “Dick you did nothing wrong. The team is who messed up, not you.”

Bruce swore again as he looked his son over and made notes of all his visible injuries. He had a gash on his head and was absolutely covered in cuts and bruises. His ribs were clearly broken and by far his worst wound was the stab wound in his side.

“C-can’t….s-s-sorry….” 

“Dick you need to listen to me.” Bruce raked his hand through his son’s hair, “You did nothing wrong. You did exactly what you should have done, you recognized you would need help and you asked for it, it is not your fault that the team failed you.”

“B’rss?...”

“Yes?” 

Dick lifted his hand slightly but dropped it back to the ground when he didn’t have the strength to hold it up. Tim was already radioing the watchtower, Dick needed medical attention yesterday. 

“D-Don’t...l-loose hope...d-don’t p-push them out...n-not like...a-after..j-jason….’m sorry….I-I l-love a-all of you….’m sorry….”

His eyes fluttered closed and they all felt his body go limp under their hands and all of them felt their hearts stop at the same time. Jason had Dick’s biometrics on his own screen and he yelled to Bruce in panic.

“He’s crashing!”

“Tim. Status?” Bruce was struggling to stay calm. They couldn’t do CPR because of his ribs. They would be more likely to puncture his lungs than to get Dick to breathe again.

Without even giving Tim a chance to respond every member of the Batfamily was transported up to Watchtower. They were greeted with Superman and Flash checking all of them over as Clark carefully pulled Dick away from Bruce and placed him on a stretcher to run back to the medical bay. All of them just sat there, covered in the blood of their brother, their son. It wasn’t until other members of the league started to filter over to check them over that Bruce stood and went to his boys. It only took a light touch to the shoulder for Jason to snap out of his stupor and he slowly looked to Bruce and then to Tim.

“I’ve got him. Go check the Blue Bird.”

Bruce just gave a stiff nod before looking at Tim and squeezing Jason’s shoulder. At Jason’s nod he turned and went in the direction of the infirmary. Jason took a deep breath before sliding over in front of his little brother. Because that is what they were. Brothers. They may have fought when Jason first came back but the family had bonded and they were as close as ever, all of that was thanks to a certain bird who was currently bleeding out. 

“C’mon Rob. Let’s get somewhere private so we can talk.”

The most response he got was a numb nod before he helped Tim to his feet and was leading them through the halls in silence to Bruce’s room. Once the door was firmly locked behind them Jason wasted no time in ripping off his mask. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up okay?” He eyed the shakiness in his brother’s hands as Tim reached for his own mask. “Timmy? Are you okay?” 

He shrugged off his jacket, leaving him in his black under armor, and headed over to where Tim was standing in the room. 

“H-He’s dead…”

“No. No he isn’t. B wont let him die. They are going to fix him up and in a few hours we’re going to take him home.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

He saw the tears in Tim’s eyes and the brother in him cried out to help him. He was surprised himself when he reached out and pulled Tim against his chest in a hug.

“It never is Baby Bird. It’s never supposed to end with one of us hurt. But we have to keep going. We have to adapt. Keep flying no matter what. It’s what Robins do.”

That earned him a little chuckle from his brother. “That was horrible.”

“Yeah, I know, Dickhead is the one who’s good at this, not me. See? He can’t leave us. He’s still gotta teach me how to be a good brother.”

Tim squeezed Jason, “You are a good brother. You know, when you aren’t shooting at us.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say kiddo.”

They stood like that for a while before Tim pulled back and rubbed at tears that had run down his face. Jason nodded and patted his shoulder.

“What do you say we both go shower and change and see how Dickie Bird is?”

Tim nodded up to him and they both headed over to the showers with clean civvies in their hands.

The boys finished up and were soon on their way to the med bay to check on their brother.  They were lying if they said that they weren’t worried about him. Dick had always been there for both of them but when he desperately needed them they weren’t there. When they got there they found Bruce sitting out in the waiting room with his head in his hands, never a good sign. 

“Bruce how is he?”

“They’re still working on him.”

“Any updates?”

“I’m just holding that if they are still working it means that he is still alive.”

Silence fell over the group and the two boys joined their father. The surgery took hours. Tim was slumped into Bruce’s side and dozing lightly. Bruce hadn’t moved from his spot with his head in his hands and Jason was bouncing his knee while glaring daggers into the wall in front of him. Slade was going to pay for what he did, but for now they needed to know if they had lost a family member. For Bruce it meant waiting to see if he lost his first baby, his first bird, the original light that had pulled him from his darkness and never ceased to amaze him. For Jason it meant waiting to see if he was going to maim Slade or murder him. He had always looked up to Dick, even though he would never admit to it. For Tim it meant seeing if he had lost his big brother, Dick had mentored him almost as much as Bruce had. Dick is the one who really made him into Robin because it was his name to give. Robin was family. Robin was Dick, and how could Tim possibly be Robin if his family was dead. 

Finally, after three hours of waiting a doctor stepped into the waiting room from the operating area doors. All three of them were standing and crossing the room to get to him. 

“Is he?-”

“He’s alive and stable. It was touch and go for a while in there. He lost a lot of blood and his injuries were severe. If he had been out there any longer he would have died. As of right now he’s resting. I can’t say what all he will remember. He has a severe concussion. He needs rest and wont be going on any patrols for a while but, he’s alive.”

“Can we see him?”

The doctor looked down at Robin. He knew who he had been treating. Everyone knew the Batfamily. When they had gotten the call to be prepared there were doctors who backed away because they were afraid to face the wrath of the Bat if they failed to save his first partner. It made him sick, especially now, seeing how worried Robin was. How worried Red Hood was. Seeing the Goddamn Batman turn from being the vengeance in the night, to being a father terrified to lose his son.

“Yes, I’ve turned the lights down so when he wakes up they wont hurt him.”

“When? You’re sure? ”

“He’s strong. All of you are. I’m sure Nightwing will make it through this, he has a great family to come home to.”

Seeing as there would be no further comments, the doctor turned and left the Bats in peace. 

“Doctor,” The way Batman said it had him pausing and turning to look at the scene before him. At Batman with a hand on Red Hood’s shoulder and Red Hood pulling the young Robin into his side. “Thank you.”

The doctor smiled slightly, nodded, and left knowing that he had helped to preserve the light of Gotham. The family of Bats and Birds deserved all the happiness and time together they could get. After all the things he knew they had been through, they deserved it. 


	2. Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy and Wally try to keep the eldest bird in the nest while his family hunts the people responsible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys asked for it, I really hope this doesn't disappoint.

Jason had called Roy and Wally while they were waiting at Dick's bedside. It hadn't been more than a minute after Jason had hung up the call with them that the gingers were yelling their way back to Dick's room. Jason greeted them at the door and both of them added in to watch over Dick. They were his older brothers.

"What happened?" Roy was seething that something like this had happened. He'd heard from Jason that the Team had done something but he hadn't said what.

After Bruce explained to them, with Jason adding in some colorful language about the team's stupidity, the two gingers had varying degrees of worry and rage painting their features. Roy had his fists clenched in his pants while Wally was nearly vibrating. Jason put a hand on Roy's shoulder and gave him a look.

"You two stay with him, I have business to take care of."

He left the room and Tim and Bruce shared a look. Waiting around was never a Bat specialty. Bruce stood and brushed Dick's bangs back before looking over at Wally and Roy. 

"I'm going to work on hunting down Deathstroke and Blockbuster. Alert me if his condition changes."

They both said a quick "yes sir" while Bruce sulked out of the room, leaving the youngest Robin the last one in the room aside from the terrible trio.

"Jason's probably putting the fear of god into the team by now." Wally was trying to lighten the mood, it didn't matter who wore the uniform a Robin that wasn't smiling was never a happy sight to see.

"They all deserve it." Tim had Dick's hand in a death grip. The sounds of the EKG washing over the room while Roy took a deep breath and shifted his focus.

"What they did was careless and stupid. But Dick's alive, and he's going to make it through all of this. We all know how Jason is going to react to this and we know how the team will respond to his anger. They deserve the fear of god put into them but they don't deserve death." Sparing another look at Dick's pale face he decided to add on, "Not yet anyways."

Tim stayed quiet and they all three listened to the sounds of Dick's heart beating before Tim quietly stood and took his leave. Wally shifted to the other side of the bed and ran his fingers through Dick's sweaty hair.

"Wake up soon Dick, your family is even scarier without you."

* * *

Jason made his way to the main living area of the watchtower where he knew the Team members that had been in on the prank and retrieval of Nightwing were sitting. As he walked he thought about everything that his brother had gone through because of the team and his pace picked up in time with his anger. He was livid by the time he reached the team and seeing their faces just made it worse. 

"Red Hood, how is he?" M'gann was standing at the front of the group. Beast Boy, La'gann, Cassie, Karen, and a few others that Jason didn't know by name all huddled behind her.

"Don't act like you care. You know full well how dangerous this prank was. Megan you've been on the team since the beginning. You. Knew. You knew going into this that communications are vital. That it can mean the difference between life and death and you knew that any reason a Bat contacts is important. Any reason anyone contacts is important. You know we don't call for backup often and we don't use the comms unless we need that. And yet you thought cutting him away from every helpful source was a good idea?" La'gann moved to defend her but just had Jason turn on him instead. "You will not speak until I am finished or your face will become the new Fish stick at fast food chains. Do you understand?"

The nod he got and the looks of terror on all of their faces as they backed up was a good enough response.

"Who's idea was it." It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

With shaking limbs Gar lifted his hand in the air, "It was my idea."

If they thought a Batglare was scary they hadn't seen Red Hood close to murder.

"If he dies. If he has any long term problems because of this it will be on you. All of you. His blood is on all of your hands. You didn't get to hear him while he was _dying_ in our arms in that alley. He was blaming _himself_ for your mistakes. You have _no idea_ the damage your _prank_ has caused."

He moved forward towards all of them and the team all scurried away from him. They knew Red Hood would kill, they knew he didn't have nearly as strict moral code as the rest of the Batfamily. With him being this angry they didn't know what he was going to do. They didn't have to worry however, as Tim entered the room completely silent. Not trying to be stealthy just missed by everyone in the room who wasn't trained to always know who was there. Jason had his hands on Gar's shirt collar while Tim calmly walked over to his brother and snaked his arms around his waist.

Jason spent approximately ten more seconds glaring holes into Beast Boy's head before roughly shoving him away and hugging Tim into him. He no longer cared about the team or the fact that they were still in the room. The family had been through too much and Jason knew how Tim handled too many emotions. He wasn't going to let Tim bottle everything up.

"What's up?"

"B went to hunt. I didn't want to be alone."

"Well we can't let the old man have all the fun now can we?"

He got a smile from the current Robin and then looked over at the team. "Why don't we show Slade and Desmond that hell hath no fury like a Bat disturbed."

The team watched the birds leave the room and they all thought the same thing. May god have mercy on anyone who harmed Nightwing.

* * *

Late in the night police in Bludhaven found Blockbuster beaten to little more than a bloody pile of flesh. Deathstroke had been found in Gotham hanging upside down and beaten like a pinata. There had been notes on both of them that had evidence on both of them as well as information about the Theater where even more evidence could be collected. Both cities police departments knew full well what it looked like when the Batfamily was seeking vengeance for one of its own. The bullet holes in Desmond's flesh told Bludhaven's officers that Nightwing had been the one wounded or worse by the villains. They could only wonder what had happened to the young vigilante. In Gotham Jim had seen the news from Bludhaven and known Red Hood had been responsible for Blockbuster. He had seen Batman and Robin and knew that the original bird had been the one to be wronged. He knew what Batman looked like when he was worried for his birds. Nightwing held a special place in all of their hearts, he just hoped that wherever the young hero was, he was safe.

* * *

On the watchtower Roy and Wally sat on either side of Dick's bed cuddling into their baby brother while Dick switched between Gotham News and Bludhaven News on the TV. 

"Wally." Dick had woken up about three hours after the Bat's had left. They'd all promised to come up as soon as they were done with their patrols so it left the terrible trio some bonding time.

"Yes Dick?"

"You're going to hurt my ribs if you squeeze into me any tighter."

"Sorry."

"Roy?"

"Yes Dickie?"

"You really let them go out and do that?"

"We would have if they didn't. But someone had to keep you in your bed."

"I'm not that bad at recovering guys. Have a little bit of faith in me."

"Dick," Wally put in, "you weren't even awake for ten minutes and you were trying to go check on the team. If we weren't physically keeping you in this bed right now can you really tell us you'd be in it?"

"...no."

The bashful reply from the first boy wonder had both of the gingers laughing. It had been a rough time for them, but Dick was smiling and laughing, they knew he'd be okay. The team had learned their lesson. The villains of Gotham and Bludhaven would think twice before ever harming a Bat again. Hell hath no fury like the Batfamily.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this is what you guys wanted. I tried to take in what was suggested in the comments. Let me know what you think!


	3. Confessions

Once Dick was able to go back to the manor things settled down again. Dick was stuck in his bed or on the couch by his worried family members and the acrobat was beginning to go stir crazy. He didn't admit it to them because he didn't want to add anything to their guilt but he had nightmares about laying in that alleyway. He stayed in his bed and played video games with Tim the whole day. Talking to his littlest brother and making sure Tim knew he was fine. His wounds were healing fine. If Dick tried to bring up the Young Justice team Tim would get this dark expression on his face. One that read anger simmering just under the surface.

"You know Timmy, I don't blame them."

"Dick they almost got you killed." Tim's eyes were hard and he glared slightly at his brother before looking away.

Dick was just happy Tim missed the way he flinched at the word 'killed'. "I used to pull pranks all the time when I was younger. Wally and I were a force to be reckoned with when he wanted to prank people. We still do prank the team when there's downtime. It's a way to keep everyone on their toes and to make some fun for everyone."

"Is it fun to bleed to death all alone then?"

Tim was angry. He didn't like that the one that had almost died was the one person in the family who didn't seem to be taking any of it seriously. Dick was the only one of them that wasn't angry with Young Justice. For him to even go so far as to defend them when they were so so close to being the reason he lost his life. This time though, Tim caught the flinch when he spoke. He caught the way Dick swallowed and measured his breaths. Saw him look away and the slight pallor to his skin. He knew he hit a nerve.

"Dick I-" He wanted to apologize but his brother cut him off.

"It's okay Timmy. I'm okay, don't worry about it. I just feel a little tired, mind if I take a nap before dinner?"

It was the family's way of asking to be alone. Tim just nodded and felt the guilt claw at his insides. Dick was trying to be happy, it was his defense mechanism, and here was Tim trying to make him face the truth he didn't want to. He knew Dick liked to move on from things that scared him. So Tim moved to the door and stepped into the hallway. He wasn't paying attention to who was where and focused only on the click the door made when it latched.

"Hey."

Jason's voice startled him enough to make him jump. Once he realized his brother was just standing in the hallway Tim raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"I was coming to check on Dickwing but then you opened the door all mopey looking. What's up?"

Tim contemplated for a moment before sighing and walking over to Jason. "I messed up."

"With what? Dick? I'm pretty sure he forgives whatever you did already. He does that."

"He did. He forgave me so fast, just like he forgives the team."

"Did you say something to him Replacement?"

"Yeah." Tim nodded. "I, we were talking about pranks and he was defending them. Saying how he pulled pranks and that it was all for fun. I didn't think before I spoke and I asked if it was fun to bleed to death all alone."

Silence fell over the hallway as Jason mulled over what Tim had said.

"Well," Jason began. "I can say from experience that it's not."

Tim hung his head and balled his fists. "I know. God I know Jay. I didn't mean it like that to you or to him I just-"

Jason cut him off by putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know what you meant. I get it. I do. I'm pissed as hell with the team but Dick's coping mechanism is forgiving everyone and putting everything onto himself. You heard him in that alley. He'd already forgiven the team by the time we got there. He forgave me so easily when I came back. That's just what Dick does. It's what makes him such a good brother."

"We don't deserve him."

"No, no we don't." Jason chuckled and pulled Tim into a head lock to mess up his hair with a noogie. "But we can still support him and keep his dumb ass safe when he decides to forgive the wrong people. We'll be there for him and try to be the brother's he deserves."

The two walked down the stairs and continued to stay together. Nearly losing Dick had brought them closer than ever before. They knew they all had to look out for each other because one small thing could be the end of them.

* * *

Dick stayed in his room for the rest of the night and did eventually drift off to sleep. 

_He was flying. Flying through the air and no one could touch him. Wearing the colors of a traffic light and cheering up the dismal city below him. Soaring through the air with a large Bat behind him. His dad. Then other birds came, two more happy and bright. He looked down and his costume was changing to something darker. Black with a blue bird blazing across his chest. It wasn't a Robin but it was still him. He turned to his brother's in time to see one of them get thrown out of the sky from a crowbar attached to a laughing clown. Watched him hit the ground like his parents had all those years ago. He looked to his dad to see if he would help but he was gone. So was the other Robin. He was alone and looked down to see their bodies on the ground as well. He had to go back. He had to help them. But he couldn't stop flying, why couldn't he stop flying?_

_Then he wasn't. He was hurdling through the air and his body was in so much pain. Blood flying up around him and he knew it was his. He felt his body slam into metal that smelled like garbage and fall into the filthy ground below. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Just watched the blood pool around his body and felt himself growing colder and weaker with every passing second. He'd never see his family again. He'd never teach a young bird to fly again. He'd never get to be held by his Dad again. Never get to hide himself in that big black cape that meant nothing would hurt them again. He didn't want to be let go. He looked up at the sky and saw the stars glitter above his head. Saw the shape of a bat soaring through the air and a Robin flying at his side. Oh how he wished it was him. His eyes slipped closed, he was dead._

Dick woke up with a gasp and promptly started choking on the air. He was covered in cold sweat and shaking in fear of his nightmare. He didn't want to fall. Didn't want to hit the ground. He wanted to be Robin curled up in Batman's cape because it was the safest place any of them could ever be. When strong arms grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up into a broad chest he was scared. Then he breathed in and he knew it was okay because the chest he leaned on smelled like cave, cologne, kevlar, and something else unmistakably Bruce. 

"Don't let me go." He didn't even realize he was crying until he felt the wet spots on Bruce's shirt and he felt the arms around him hold him tighter.

"I wont. I'll never let you go Chum."

They didn't need to talk. It was one of the things that Dick loved most about being the original Dynamic Duo. They didn't need to talk to each other to know what the other one was thinking. They could communicate everything with just a look. Bruce knew that Dick needed time to calm down and recenter himself and he was giving it.

"I had a nightmare." Bruce knew the drill with Dick and his nightmares. He remembered when Dick was younger and had first come to the manor. All the times the little 8 year old would climb onto his massive bed and curl into a small ball next to Bruce. He knew talking helped him.

"What was it about?" He was calm and gentle when he spoke. Running his fingers through Dick's hair as he explained the nightmare that had him thrashing and crying out when Bruce had gone to check on him. As Dick finished explaining Bruce held him close and rocked him slowly, just as he did when Dick was smaller.

"I can't stop thinking about what would have happened if you hadn't found me."

"I will always find you. You know that. I can't lose you Dick."

"Sometimes we can't control that though Bruce."

"I know, but sometimes we just have to have a little faith. Do you know who taught me that?"

"Alfred?"

"He might have said the words but it was you who really taught it to me. I've seen you do so many things that should have been impossible. You showed me that believing in something could give someone more power than anything else. I've seen you hurt beyond salvation and making jokes. Dick, when we were in that alley and you were saying your goodbyes I, I was so scared it was really the end."

"You were scared?"

"Of course I was." Bruce pulled his son away slightly to look him in the eyes as he spoke. "You came into my life and you made it better. I would still be alone if it wasn't for you. All I had was Alfred, then you, and then everyone came. You are the heart of this family Dick, the thought of losing you... that is what keeps me awake at night."

Tears welled in Dick's eyes and he latched onto his father again for dear life. Clung to him like the fate of the world depended on it.

"I love you Bruce."

Bruce held on to his little boy. That's what Dick always had been and always would be, his little boy. He would always be the small child swinging from the chandeliers. Would always be the bright bird who lit up the cave. Dick would always be his heart.

"I love you too Dickie."


End file.
